Second Issue Review: London Metro
The fact that this is a second issue review illustrates an early teething problem for the London Metro – namely its availability (apparently part of Associated Newspapers’ strategy (see Associated Newspaper Delays Launch Of London Daily)). My BR and Victoria Line route from North London into work has thus far only turned up one sighting (Wednesday morning) of any distributors. In the longer term Associated will need to maximize the title’s impact by including the many commuter towns surrounding the capital within its sphere of distribution.
Thankfully the paper’s quality is somewhat superior to its current quantity. Certainly on my journey it was a gladly accepted distraction. Sensibly, the print appears on paper with a slight sheen finish, therefore no irritating occurrences of ink coming off on your fingers. Being a Guardian reader it was also welcome relief not having to wrestle with large sheets of paper, in the middle of a packed tube carriage, in order to finish the rest of that article which is continued on page seventeen. Clearly a testing situation for the even the most skilled origami experts…
This is not your typical free paper either. It is not a case of three pages of news followed by a game of ‘spot the article amongst these pages of adverts’ – indeed I do believe there is more editorial than ads! Another case of quality taking precedence over quantity. Though the articles are generally on the short side, world and London wide news is covered competently, and the briefness of the stories makes them easy to follow (important whilst on a crowded train) yet informative.
It is all clearly set out, with an attractive mix of colour and mono. Travelwatch and Weather are expected inclusions but in addition you get other useful guides: Propertywatch, Cheapest In Town (in this edition where to find the least expensive CDs in London), Shop Spot (What’s New In Store) and best of all, Metro Life. Metro Life is an entertainment guide which provides listings and reviews for cinema, theatre, comedy, gigs and so on, as well as a full TV guide for the day. Meanwhile, the sports pages contain a guide for sport on TV and live sport taking place within the M25.
Reading all this on the underground I wondered, “Should I be getting all this for free?”, and only time will tell whether Metro will have to bow to commercial pressures in order to finance the much needed increased distribution – I can certainly envisage a sharp rise in the amount of advertising the paper takes. With greater availability, and in its current form, I would predict it having a significant effect on the London circulations of the nationals. I refer to all those passengers who often buy a daily in the morning ‘just for something to read’ during the usually pretty morbid rail trip to work. Additionally, new opportunities for recruitment advertisers exist here beyond the limits of Nine To Five and Midweek Magazine.
To summarise: this title is here to stay. I only wonder why no one in London thought of it before?
Advertisers include: AB Airlines, First Direct, Ford, Business Link, Bank Of Scotland, Ryanair.